Checkmate
by doomweasel
Summary: Edited May 5th. A lonely old man challenges Axel to a friendly game of chess, but gets more than he bargained for. Oneshot, please review. Rated for language.


"Say there, boy, mind humoring an old man for a spell?"

Axel paused and looked towards the source of the voice. An ancient, bespectacled man sat in a folding chair in front of a small round table, grinning somewhat vaguely at him. Looking back up the park trail, Axel weighed whether he had time before his rendezvous and whether the delay was worth his time. He decided he didn't give a shit if he was late anyway and walked over to the frail little man. "What do you want?"

"You ever played chess before?"

"Possibly."

"Well no matter, I can teach you." The old man reached into a battered canvas bag sitting on the ground next to him and pulled out a fold-up chessboard and a wooden box. He laid out the chessboard and opened the box, revealing worn and chipped plastic chess pieces. "My partner can't show up for our game today, and I've a strong hankering for some chess. Pull up a chair, why don't you? My name's Theodore, by the way. But you can call me Theo."

"Axel." As he introduced himself, Axel pulled up a wrought-iron deck chair and sat down. Theodore didn't seem to notice that Axel had conjured the chair out of thin air.

Theo's withered hands set up the chess pieces with a speed that belied their age. "Righto," he said, blinking owlishly. "These here are the pawns. They can only move forward one space at a time, except on their first move when they can move two. They can only capture pieces that are one diagonal square ahead of them. These're rooks, which can move in straight lines. Bishops can move diagonally. Knights are tricky – they can move like this, see? That lets them jump other pieces without capturing them. The king can only move one space at a time, but the queen can move in any direction. You follow me?"

Axel nodded, his chin resting on his interlaced hands.

"Now, the whole point of the game is to capture the king. That doesn't mean physically capturing him, necessarily – just as long as he's trapped. When you're about to capture your opponent's king, you gotta say, 'Check.' If his king is trapped and you know you've won, then you say, 'Checkmate.' Got it?"

"Yes."

"Humph. We'll see." Theodore's eyes sparkled mischievously and his wide gash of a mouth twisted into a lopsided grin. "You're white; you go first."

With careful deliberation, Axel raised one gloved hand, paused briefly, and made his first move. Theo waited much longer before making his own move, taking several minutes before moving a single pawn. By then Axel had already grown impatient and slammed down his knight immediately after Theo's move.

"Ho-ho, don't be too hasty, young man," Theodore admonished. "Playing a fast game is the fastest way to lose. However…" The old man grinned, reached down, and pulled out an old analog timer. He spun the hand halfway around and rested one finger on the button. "We can spice things up a bit. We'll play for half an hour and see who wins. If the game isn't over by then, then whoever is winning at that point is the winner. Alright?"

Axel grinned his distinctive wolfish grin. A half hour was plenty of time. He moved one of his bishops and settled cheerfully into his chair as Theo countered his move. As much as Axel enjoyed a little violence and bloodshed, a battle of wits was definitely far more entertaining. He continued to play, seemingly at random, never taking more than a few seconds for each move. However, as the minutes passed, a method seemed to form from his madness. It was impossible to discern precisely what his strategy was, though, a fact that seemed to thrill Theodore as much as it irritated him.

"Are you sure you've never played before?" the old man asked, casting Axel a suspicious look as he set down his rook.

"No, actually." Axel captured Theo's rook with his bishop, the pieces knocking against each other with a satisfying _clink._ He held the two pieces between his fingers, tapping them together several more times for added relish before setting the captured rook aside.

"Harrumph. Kids these days really are getting insolent." Eyebrows like snow-white caterpillars scrunched together on Theodore's brow in annoyance. "I'll have you know I've been playing chess for over sixty years. I haven't lost a game for thirty of those years, and I don't plan on loosing now."

Axel smirked and captured another piece. "We'll see."

Ten minutes passed by. The intricate dance of pieces continued, and though there was no clear winner on either side, Axel was clearly making Theodore work. At one point Axel moved his queen, let go of the piece, then realized his mistake and grabbed it again. "Ah ah ah!" Theodore cried triumphantly, pointing one withered finger accusingly. "You can't take back a move once you let go of the piece!"

"What! That's an idiotic rule! Who made that up?"

"Don't matter. It's just one of the rules, and you can't take it back now." Theo cackled and promptly captured Axel's queen.

"Son of a bitch," Axel snarled, barely restraining himself from knocking over the board in a fit of rage. Scowling, he tapped his knuckles against his narrow lips and contemplated his next move. It was a costly mistake, to be sure, but not a fatal one. He could recover, with some work. Axel would be damned if he lost now. As he continued to play, a new strategy slowly hatched in his mind. He wasn't quite sure where it would lead – he never was sure with any of his tactics – but he trusted his own instincts enough to follow them. His face set in a look of fierce concentration, green eyes darting across the board, Axel made first one move, then another, carefully nudging and prodding the intricate flow of the game.

Another ten minutes passed, and Axel had pulled even with Theodore once again. "Well, you got over losing your queen pretty well," the old man remarked.

"Never place too much trust in one trump card," Axel replied, feeling much more confident now. "Always have a backup plan, even if you don't know what it is. Got it memorized?"

Theodore laughed dryly, but he didn't look terribly amused. As the seconds passed, he could feel himself slowly loosing ground to the enigmatic red-haired man, and a glance at the clock made him even more desperate. "Blast," he muttered, fishing a yellowed handkerchief from his pocket and wiping sweat from his forehead. "Bugger and blast."

"Check!" Axel grinned – a predator closing in on his prey. "Only five minutes left," he jeered. "What're you gonna do, old man?"

"Blast," Theo repeated. "What a game you put on!" He winced and grabbed at his left arm, as if struck by a cramp, then slid his bishop across the board. "But I'm not beat yet."

"Not yet," Axel echoed mockingly, deftly cutting off Theo's move. "Check."

Theodore gritted his teeth and rolled his left shoulder in a fruitless attempt to alleviate the pain. His breath was now coming in short gasps. "The excitement's getting to me," he panted, advancing a pawn with his shaking hand.

"Don't kill yourself."

Though his mouth opened as if to respond, no sound came out. Instead, Theodore shuddered violently and suddenly tried to stand, knocking over his chair. He fell to his knees, clutching at his chest with one hand and the edge of the table with the other. After a few seconds of labored breathing, he slumped to the ground and lay motionless.

Axel leaned over and prodded the old man with his toe. There was no response; he was definitely dead. "Well that's too bad," he sighed, his chair vanishing as he stood. He turned to leave, then suddenly remembered something and turned back. Picking up his knight, he placed it gently down again and stood back, arms folded, to admire his work.

"Checkmate."


End file.
